ABUSE

Geelong College rocked
by historical sex abuse claims(Sydney Morning Herald) Sept 23 - An exclusive Geelong school has revealed for the first time that
former students have accused teachers of sexual abuse, putting the focus on a
second elite school in the regional city.

Pope's Cuba message long
on faith, short on politics (The
West Australian) Sept 23 - Havana (AFP) - Pope Francis stuck mainly to religion during his visit
to Cuba, steering clear of delicate topics like democratic reforms and human
rights -- and risking criticism from some at his next stop, Washington.

Mecca crush: Pope speaks
out (The Australian) Sept 25 - The Pope has expressed his solidarity with Muslims after more than
717 people were killed in a stampede near Mecca.

Pope wows Washington but
takes on controversy (The West
Australian) Sept 24 - Washington (AFP) - Pope Francis received a rapturous welcome to
Washington on Wednesday but did not shy away from controversy, addressing
church sex abuse and urging action on immigration and climate change.

Pope Francis challenges
Congress to heal world's open wounds(Sydney Morning Herald) Sept 25 - Washington: Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of 1.2 billion
Catholics, challenged Congress and by extension the United States on Thursday
to break out of its cycle of polarisation and paralysis to finally use its
power to heal the "open wounds" of a planet torn by hatred, greed,
poverty and pollution.

Madonna gives the Pope a
shout-out (The West Australian)
Sept 25 - A woman with plenty of experience tangling with the Vatican has given
Pope Francis her endorsement during his first US visit.

Pope Francis gets
rapturous welcome in New York (The
West Australian) Sept 25 - New York (AFP) - Pope Francis received a rapturous welcome to New
York, where adoring crowds cheered the head of the Catholic church gliding down
Fifth Avenue in his popemobile before being counselled against greed at evening
prayers.

Can the pope's moral
anti-death penalty argument sway American lawmakers? (The Guardian, Australia) Sept 25 – (Opinion: Lucia Graves) There are many substantive policy reasons for
opposing the death penalty: the risk of executing innocent people; the
unfairness inherent in the judicial process; the persistent evidence of racial
discrimination; and lack of evidence that killing some people deters other
people from killing anyone.

At U.N., Pope rails
against craving for wealth and power (The West Australian) Sept 26 - NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Friday condemned the craving for
material gains and power, warning an annual gathering of world leaders at the
United Nations that greed is destroying the Earth's resources and aggravating
poverty.

Putin opens huge new
mosque in Russian capital (The
West Australian) Sept 23 - Moscow (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on
Wednesday opened one of the biggest mosques in Europe, warning against the lure
of jihadists as the government frets over its citizens fighting for the Islamic
State group.

Muslim Americans welcome
first NY Eid school holiday (The
West Australian) Sept 23 - New York (AFP) - New York marks a milestone in the fight for equality
Thursday when 1.1 million children in America's largest school district will
take the day off to mark Eid al-Adha.

Also:
Hajj pilgrimage: How
does a human stampede happen?(ABC
News) Sept 25 - The deaths of hundreds in a stampede during the annual Hajj
pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia raises the question: how does a stampede happen,
especially during a peaceful religious gathering?

Also:
Mecca stampede: The Haj
tragedy explained(Sydney Morning Herald) Sept 25 - More than 700 people were killed on Thursday during a catastrophic
crush near Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, while performing an important Islamic
pilgrimage called the Haj or Hajj.

Myanmar Muslims mark Eid
as monks urge curbs to ritual slaughter (The West Australian) Sept 26 - Yangon (AFP) - Muslims in Myanmar marked Eid on Friday with the
ritual sacrifice of cattle amid pressure from Buddhist nationalists to curb the
animal slaughter in a country where religious tensions have flared in recent
years.

Religious
Violence

ISIS defectors tired of
brutality (The Australian) Sept 21 - Islamic State fighters are defecting amid growing disquiet and
disillusionment at the promise of a “jihadist utopia”.

Also: A new wave of
Islamophobia has American Muslims worried (The Age, Melbourne) Sept 23 - Anaheim, California: Muslim Americans are feeling a mix of
frustration, exasperation and anger towards what many see as a growing wave of
Islamophobia fuelled by two of the Republican Party's most popular presidential
candidates, Donald Trump and Ben Carson.

ISLAM

No halal link to terror,
inquiry told (The West Australian)
Sept 24 - A former army officer has told an inquiry he finds it strange that in
a non-Muslim country such as Australia it's difficult to find a chicken that's
not sacrificed to Allah.

Mosque backers stare
down bigotry (The Australian)
Sept 26 - As Bendigo faces another protest against a planned mosque, a local
figure calls on residents to stare down bigotry.

Sexuality and Islam (The Saturday Paper, Australia) Sept 26 - Gay Muslims in the West can face lack of acceptance within their
families and their religion, as well as experiencing wider prejudice against
their faith, fostering a complex and contradictory identity.